Farworld: The Free Traders of Fahren City (part 3)
An empire takes hold of Ustayara.
Read about the origins of Fahren City and Valerie Fahren’s rise in Part One and Part Two of The Free Traders of Fahren City.
12,007 - 12,047 AF
On the final day of autumn, Val sat the high seat of the Council of Coin and flew the Fahren flag across what was now being called Fahren City. He expanded the Council to include representatives from his newfound allies from the Foot and the eastern clans, raising up individual houses and bequeathing lands upon those that had served him well.
He stopped short of calling himself King, however, swearing that no Fahren son would wear a crown until all Men were united beneath him. The remaining merchant families who had been more friendly to Valerie and Francis before him, breathed a sigh of relief and even celebrated when they received permanent positions on Val’s ever growing council.
When he sat the high seat, he was not accompanied by one woman, but five. Harems had been known in Ustayara before, mostly in the south, but had never come to the city. In his travels, however, Val had taken beautiful and intelligent daughters of important families from each of the peoples he had befriended, calling them his Council of Women.
In the south, young heirs oft took many women to bed, keeping his favorite around, not just for pleasure and childbearing, but for wisdom as well. Oft referred to as Concubine Queens, these women were always well respected and sometimes, if cunning enough, became more powerful than the man who shared her bed.
It was in the Foot in the first year of his travels that Val had picked up this tradition, as his heart - or at least his loins - was stolen by Enrita Shell, who accepted his invitation to travel the world with him but refused his marriage proposal. “Women who become only wives become only mothers. I will not be satisfied only as the wife or mother of a great man. You will see many beauties in your travels, but at the end of it all, you will love my mind more than my body.”
And so it was that Valerie Fahren, madly in love, found his closest friend and ally. Valerie is not shy in his writings about how instrumental Enrita was at forging alliances and making deals. It was her that made the match that tied the horse clans together, and her that won the respect of the Night Raiders when she proved as adept with a blade as a Raider woman. It was she too that helped craft Val’s harem, guiding him to the girls that would strike the right balance with his potential partners.
One of these girls was Sheila Bloodlake from the Blood Lakes in the north. Though not yet of age, Sheila had proven herself in battle already, having killed men, women, Orks, Dwarfs, even a bear. She was the headstrong younger daughter of a northern chieftain, who many assumed would die on an Ork blade before birthing a child. Many of the other chieftains hated her, for she defeated them and their sons in swordplay and scoffed at their sexual advances. Though it was not uncommon for a northern woman to be as or more adept with a blade than a man, Sheila had as fiery a tongue as had been heard in the north, and was a prankster as well. Once she gelded a young man who had long tried to bed her after getting him drunk and finally inviting him into her tent.
Sheila’s father loved her though, and would not try to rein her in, finding her antics entertaining and reveling in the violence that came after them. Enrita Shell saw that a war between the northern chieftains was brewing thanks to Sheila, and so set out to make an ally of her. After watching Sheila’s swordplay with boys her age and men her elder, Enrita goaded her into a battle away from the camp. Sheila’s attacks were strong and fierce, but lacked elegance, and Enrita deftly ducked and dodged. Twas nigh on an hour the women sparred before Sheila began to tire, at which point Enrita pressed on her with such quickness that the younger girl stumbled and fell. Enrita was atop her before she could defend herself…but instead of taking a victorious blow she bequeathed a kiss.
Enrita and Sheila became Val’s most important advisors and most frequent lovers; often all three of them would share a bed. This stoked the anger of the chieftains and, as Enrita and Val had expected, war broke out between them. Val and his small compliment of soldiers fought for Sheila’s father and though they lacked in number, they were much better equipped and tactically competent.
After the initial skirmishes, Val feigned a retreat which the pursuing warriors followed with reckless abandon. What they did not know was that Val had struck a deal with a band of trading Dwarfs, who waited in the hills and fell upon the unsuspecting Night Raiders. Val’s enemies then scattered and the tribes of Raiders were broken, ready to be united under Sheila’s leadership.
When Val sprung his trap two years later, Sheila led the fleet of Raider skiffs that sunk the fleeing merchant vessels. After her victory, she came to Fahren City to be with Valerie and Enrita. A year later, she was great with child and Val took her to wife. She gave birth to a boy that would follow his father to the Fahren throne. He was named Valerie II, but would eventually be known as Fahren the Second.
After claiming the throne in 12,007, Valerie I ruled over all the lands of Ustayara west of the Cold Mountains with surprisingly little turmoil. Under his rule, a network of roads grew out of Fahren City, connecting Ustayarans from Westlip and the Foot to the frozen coasts north of the Blood Lakes. Fleets of trading galleys began crossing the Shallow Strait with regularity, even sailing deep into the Unknown Ocean, discovering small islands and bringing back strange fruits and spices.
There were, of course, conflicts between the Ustayaran people, which the Throne quelled quickly and harshly. For a time, Valerie I and Sheila Bloodlake rode at the head of the armies they raised to put down rebellions, until Valerie II came of age. The younger man had trained in the yards with both his parents, and was said to be a better swordsman than either, and as competent a commander. As his father aged and spent more time concerned with trade and roads, Val II fought many battles and earned the title Val the Valiant, though he never loved the name.
Valerie Fahren I died at peace in his bed in 12,045 AF. He was survived by three wives and six children, including Valerie II who succeeded him.
Though the birth of Valerie II had lowered her in status and she had no strong bond with the son of her husband, Enrita Shell continued to serve the Fahren throne as an advisor after Valerie I’s death. It was she that warned Valerie II that his authority would be challenged in the early days of his rule. The ruler listened, and preemptively prepared a campaign to the south under the guise of a royal progress.
Though they had prospered under Valerie I, many noblemen from the Foot chafed at the taxes they were now obliged to send to Fahren City. Enrita predicted a rebellion from those houses, and Val the Valiant quietly raised an army as he progressed southward. His mother Sheila Bloodlake rode by his side and was his most trusted general.
Enrita used her long-standing connections in the Foot as spies and double agents. The would-be rebellious Footmen were encouraged when they heard news that Valerie II was arrogant and rode with few guards. They planned an ambush along the unfinished South Road, of which Val, Sheila, and Enrita were completely aware. With Sheila Bloodlake riding at the head of the charge, the rebels were routed with ease.
But when his general-mother returned to camp, she was sullen despite her victory. “My people are not ones to die peacefully in their beds, son,” the former Night Raider said. “I thought I might find a good piece of steel to give me rest.”
Now Valerie understood why her mother was so eager to go on campaign once again. But he was not ready to lose her so shortly after losing his father. And so he ordered her to return to Fahren City while he cleaned up the rest of the southern rebels.
Sheila Bloodlake did ride back up the Southroad, but did not take it to Fahren City. Instead she led her soldiers north to her homeland, where bands of Orks were always raiding, and there was always infighting between the tribes of Men. There she tirelessly cut down any who seemed even slightly out of line with her son’s rule. It was on a blade of her own people the Night Raiders that Sheila Bloodlake finally found rest. She died in 12,047 and was survived by one son and two grandchildren.
Val the Valiant did not learn of his mother’s death until he returned victorious to Fahren City. His heart was heavy, though he was cheered for simultaneously putting down a rebellion in both the north and the south.